Shine up dull fender and door without removing too much clear coat

[somerandomguy1]

Good afternoon,

The left fender and driver side door are duller than other body panels of car such as the left rear door. Here are some pics:

The paint polishing guy said that he would send car with fine grit sandpaper like 2000 and then use 3m perfect it rubbing compound 36060 with rotary buffing machine.

Thing is that I am afraid the cars clear coat is not that thick. As a matter of fact there is a spot of paint where the clear coat has already disappeared.

I am afraid that if the car gets sanded with 2000 grit sandpaper that the very small amount of microns of clearcoat on car left would get removed and then the base coat would not have any clear coat protection.

It was recommended to me to avoid removing the small amount of clear coat left if the car were to be polished to just use 3m perfect it polish 36060 with rotary polishing machine without the sand paper. Is this a good idea?

I dont want the left front door and left front fender to be dull but I dont want to remove the small amount of clearcoat left on the car.

Thanks

 

[atikovi]

If the polishing alone doesn't get it looking like you want it, you can wet sand then, but only a repaint will get it looking perfect.

 

[somerandomguy1]

A painter guy said that only polishing the dull fender and door would make it shinier than other body panels. And that the car would need need a whole car polish to get everything to same brightness.

 

[PimTac]

A painter guy said that only polishing the dull fender and door would make it shinier than other body panels. And that the car would need need a whole car polish to get everything to same brightness.

A whole car polish is not going to help your failed clearcoat. This “painter guy” doesn’t sound like much.

 

[somerandomguy1]

So could the reason the paint is dull on fender and door be a failed clearcoat on them. If the clearcoat is failed would the best thing to do be a polish? Or reapplication of clear?

 

[PimTac]

Here is a recent thread on the same subject.

protective surface builder for paint

good morning, if polish and rubbing compound remove the protective surfaces of paint such as clear coat by microns. what substance can be used to restore the protective surfaces of paint such as clear coat? thanks

bobistheoilguy.com

Oh wait.

 

[RTexasF]

So could the reason the paint is dull on fender and door be a failed clearcoat on them. If the clearcoat is failed would the best thing to do be a polish? Or reapplication of clear?

I would say that those two panels have been repainted before and not very well. Those faded panels along with the problem on the hood suggests it had been wrecked and repaired. Wet sanding could be risky. Either leave it be or respray the entire car.

 

[WylieCoyote]

If the clearcoat is close to failure (failed in spots), hitting it with a buffer may well finish the job and get you down to basecoat. Messing with it at this stage might actually make it worse, as things can get ugly if you strike basecoat with compound and a buffer. If you really want the car to look better, get those two panels sanded and re-cleared, then buff the rest of the car out to match.